Attachment box holders



Dec. 20, 1960 E. w. STANTON ETAL 2,965,347

ATTACHMENT BOX HOLDERS Filed Sept. 30, 1957 INVENTORS. Edward W Stanton,y John Mrace/r and John Siam E Z TTORNE Y United States PatentATTACHMENT BOX HOLDERS Edward W. Stanton, Cranford, John Mracek, RosellePark, and John Stein, Elizabeth, N.J., assignors to The SingerManufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N.J., a corporation of New JerseyFiled Sept. 30, 1957, Ser. No. 687,255

1 Claim. (Cl. 248-289) The present invention relates to sewing machinecarrying cases and more particularly to means for mounting attachmentboxes inside the cover of sewing machine carrying cases, and theinvention has for one of its primary objects to provide an improveddevice of this character.

Another object of the invention is to provide the combination of asewing machine carrying case and an attachment box holder, the latterbeing arranged to position an attachment box in either of two selectedpositions.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved means forpositioning an attachment box in an accessible position or in a storageposition as desired.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an improved meansfor housing a sewing machine and an attachment box in a carrying casewhereby when the sewing machine is removed from the carrying case theattachment box can be removed through space originally occupied by thesewing machine.

Having in mind the above and other objects that will be evident from anunderstanding of this disclosure, the invention comprises the devices,combinations and arrangements of parts as illustrated in the presentlypreferred embodiment of the invention which is hereinafter set forth insuch detail as to enable those skilled in the art readily to understandthe function, operation, construction and advantages of it when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partly in section, showing a sewingmachine carrying case and an attachment box holder embodying the presentinvention,

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the attachment box holder of Fig. 1disposed in attachment box storage position,

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the same attachment box holder disposedin another position in which the attachment box is accessible and can bewithdrawn from the holder, and

Fig. 4 is a reduced scale drawing showing the carrying case cover inposition for removal of the attachment box.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated, there is showna sewing machine carrying case 16 comprising a cover 17 which has ahorizontal top-wall 18, two end walls 19 and 21, a front wall 22, and arear wall 23. The two end walls 19 and 21 converge upwardly and thefront and rear walls 22 and 23 also converge upwardly, thereby makingthe cover 17 in the form of a four sided truncated pyramid. The top wall18 is provided with a pick-up handle 24, and lower portions of the twoend walls 19 and 21 carry latch members 29 and 31, which are similar tothe latches illustrated in U.S. patent application Serial No. 590,512,filed June 11, 1956. The left hand end (Fig. 1) of the carrying casecover 17 has a block 32, substantially square in cross section andextending from the front wall 22 to the rear wall 23. The latch member29 has an elongated bolt 33 which passes through the block 32. Above theblock 32, the left hand end of the carrying case cover 17 is providedwith a wooden strip 34, rectangular in cross section, and also extendingfrom the front wall 22 to the rear wall 23. In addition, a small stop 36is secured inside the cover 17 at the junction of the end wall 19 andthe top wall 18, the stop 36 being located substantially half waybetween the front wall 22 and the rear wall 23.

A sewing machine 37 is housed within the cover 17, the machine 37 beingheld to the cover 17 by the latches 29 and 31 in a manner similar to theway in which the base member is held to the cover member of the sewingmachine carrying case shown in U.S. patent application, Serial No.459,351, filed Sept. 30, 1954, now Patent No. 2,856,726.

When the sewing machine 37 and cover 17 are in the position shown inFig. 1, the latches 29 and 31 engage the base of the sewing machine 37and make it possible to use the handle 24 to pick up and carry thecarrying case 16 and the sewing machine 37 as a unit. When desired, thelatches 29 and 31 may be opened thereby releasing the sewing machine 37from the carrying case 16. Then the cover member 17 can be lifted freeand clear of the sewing machine 37. i

The present invention relates primarily to an attachment box 41 and toan attachment box holder 42. The attachment box 41, per se, as far asthe present invention is concerned, may be conventional and has a body43 provided with a hinged cover 44. The attachment box holder 42 has aU-shaped mounting bracket 46 made up of a central reach 47 and two arms48 and 49. The reach 47 by means of two holes 51 and two screws 52 (onlyone being shown), is secured to one face of the wooden strip 34. Thefree end of each of the arms 48 and 49 carries an inwardly pressed pivotpin 53, and the arm 49 carries a post 54 at a location remote from thepivot pin 53.

In addition to the above, the attachment box holder 42 has a skeletonmetallic receptacle or four-sided boxlike body 56. Three sides of thereceptacle 56 are formed by a U-shaped plate having a wall 57, an end 58and a second end 59. A fourth side of the receptacle 56 is formed by aplate 61 having, on three of its edges, a flange 62 disposed at ninetydegrees with respect to the plate 61. The pivot pins 53--53 enter holes6363 formed in the ends 58 and 59. The end 59 is provided with twooutwardly pressed stop lugs 64 and 66 and also with a post 67, the posts67 and 54 being connected by an over-the-center tension spring 68. Anexternal portion of the plate 61 and the flange 62 are covered by a feltbumper, indicated by the numeral 69.

From the above it will be seen that the skeleton receptacle 56 has oneend 71 which is completely open and a second or opposite end 72 which isopen except for one of the flanges 62. A portion of the attachment box41 enters the receptacle 56 by way of the open end 71.

In operation the device is used as follows. Assume that the sewingmachine 37 and the attachment box 41 are both housed within the carryingcase cover 17 in the manner shown in Fig. 1. Under these circumstancesthe sewing machine 37 occupies the right, central, and part of the leftportion of the space within the cover 17, and the attachment box holder42 and attachment box 41 occupy the remaining part of the left portionof this space. When it becomes desirable to use the sewing machine 37and attachments (not shown) carried in the attachment box 41, theoperator opens both latches 29 and 31. This permits the operator to liftthe cover 17 from the sewing machine 37. Removal of the cover 17 fromthe sewing machine 37 evacuates that portion of the cover formerlyoccupied by the sewing machine. Then the operator places the cover 17 torest on its rear wall 23 (Fig. 4). This makes the open bottom of thecover 17 accessible to the operator. Next, the operator reaches intothat portion of the cover formerly occupied by the sewing machine 37 andgrasps the attachment box 41, turning the same on the pivot pins 5353from the attachment box storage position shown in Fig. 2, and also shownby solid lines in Fig. 1, to the accessible position shown in Fig. 3,and also shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1. When the attachment boxreceptacle 56 is in the accessible position, the attachment box 41 maybe removed by sliding it out of the open end of the attachment boxholder. When the receptacle 56 is in the attachment box storageposition, the box 41 cannot become removed from the holder 42 because ofthe flange 62 which extends across the attachment box holder. Theover-the-center spring 68 maintains the receptacle 56 in either of thetwo selected positions in which it has been placed. The exact positionof the two terminal positions of the receptacle 56 is determined by thelugs 64 and 66, the lug 66 being engaged by one side of the arm 49 whenthe receptacle 56 is in the attachment box storage position (Fig. 2),and the lug 64 being engaged by the other side of the arm 49 when thereceptacle 56 is in the accessible position (Fig. 3). Should the cover17 inadvertently be placed upside down the stop 36 prevents theattachment box 41 from becoming dislodged from the receptacle 56.Attention is also called to the fact that the receptacle 56 and theattachment box 41, in being swung from one position to the other, areturned through space originally occupied by the sewing machine 37.

When the sewing machine 37 and the attachment box 41 are to be housed inthe carrying case 16, the attachment box 41 is placed into the holder 42when it is in the position shown in Fig. 3. Then the holder 42 and thebox 41 are turned to the position shown in solid lines in Fig. 1.Thereafter the cover 17 is placed over the sewing machine 37 and lowereduntil the latches 29 and 31 engage the base of the machine 37. The feltbumper 69 prevents the holder 42 from marring the sewing machine 37.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what we claim hereinis:

A sewing machine attachment box holder comprising a four-sided box-likebody, said body including a U-shaped member providing one side Wall andtwo end walls, a flat plate member providing the other side wall, saidother side wall being opposite and parallel to said first side wall andsaid flat plate member having inturned marginal edges at its two ends towhich the extremities of the end walls of said U-shaped member aresecured and having another inturned marginal edge along one of its sidesto provide an attachment box stop, a mounting bracket pivotally securedto said body, a pair of stops provided on said body and disposed tocooperate with said bracket to locate said box-like body in one of twopredetermined positions, and spring means acting between said body andbracket to urge said holder in either one of its predeterminedpositions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSManetti Aug. 11, 1953

